Prayers for state ripped from Kotel prayerbooks

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prayers for the State of Israel and the welfare of Israeli soldiers were torn out of prayer books at the Western Wall.

Yediot Achronot reported over the weekend that an investigation conducted by the Israeli daily newspaper found that most of the Rinat Yisrael prayer books that contain the prayers had the pages ripped out or ruined.

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz condemned the act.

"Ripping pages from a prayer book is an act worthy of all condemnations, and I hope it is not repeated," Rabinowitz told Yediot. "We intend to turn to the police so that together we can examine how to prevent the repetition of such acts."

It is suspected that anti-Zionist haredim committed the destruction, since they do not recognize the state.